The first of two tax consequences for debtor repos and debtor quasi-repos is that the borrower is taxed in respect of any income arising on the securities during the period while the arrangement is in force, as if it held the securities that are initially sold. This is provided that the income is recognised in determining the borrower’s profit or loss (whether for that or for any other period) in accordance with GAAP.

Timing

Timing for tax purposes should follow the accounting, which treats the borrower as if there had been no disposal of either the securities or the income (FRS 5 and, with effect from 1 January 2005 for many companies, IAS 39).

The exception to this is where the real income would have been taxable on a receipts basis (for instance an overseas equity dividend received by an investment company). In those cases the income is taxable in the period in which it would have been received (which may not be the same as the period in which it accrues for accounting purposes).

These principles also apply in cases where, instead of manufactured payments being made, the repurchase price of the securities is correspondingly reduced (so that in substance a manufactured payment is still made). This means that the income is received earlier than under the previous rules, which deemed a manufactured payment to be received only when the repo is unwound. The only repos whose treatment is likely to be changed as a result of the new rules are those where the securities are equities and the borrower is not a financial trader, since in other cases timing should already follow an accounts rather than receipts basis.

No double taxation

To prevent the possibility of double taxation, the receipt of any manufactured payment that represents the income is ignored for tax purposes. This effectively reverses the approach of the previous rules, which taxed manufactured payments (whether deemed or real).